Prof. dr. Vincent Van Rompaey is appointed as associate professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Antwerp. He graduated magna cum laude as medical doctor in 2008 at the University of Antwerp and was board-certified as an Otorhinolaryngologist in 2013. He is the current vice chairman of the dept. of Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery at the Antwerp University Hospital and chairman of the dept. of Translational Neurosciences at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (Universiyt of Antwerp). Vincent Van Rompaey is a regular CORLAS member and also FWO senior clinical investigator.

The applicant obtained his PhD in Medical Sciences on Quality Assurance in Middle Ear Surgery at the University of Antwerp in 2012. He has authored over 230+ papers (WoS), was cited 2.300+ times (H-index 26).

The applicant is responsible for organizing the multidisciplinary consultation on cochlear implant candidacy, tinnitus and vertigo. He teaches and performs multiple state-of-the-art cochlear implant procedures on a weekly basis and routinely performs all types of otologic and neurotologic (skull base) procedures, such as stapedotomy, cholesteatoma resection, vestibular and intralabyrinthine schwannoma resection, selective vestibular neurectomy, labyrinthectomy, superior and posterior semicircular surgery, tympano-ossiculoplasty, etc. This clinical and surgical expertise is essential for the identification of feasible innovative inner ear therapies as well as prioritization of disorders to avoid waste of resources. The expertise in performing phase 2 and 3 trials as well as how to organize a quality management system will provide important knowledge towards translation of innovative inner ear therapies. Since his appointment as assistant professor the applicant has supervised 20 doctoral candidates that have successfully defended their PhD thesis in the field of auditory neuroscience. Currently, 22 doctoral candidates are active covering fundamental, preclinical, translational, and clinical research topics. The applicant has promoted active input and participation from the patient perspective (incl. advocacy) to receive feedback across the whole research spectrum from the patients and caregivers, as well as to communicate research findings back to the patients and the public.

Prof. Artur Lorens, Ph.D. is head of the Department of Implants and Auditory Perception at the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing.  He graduated in 1992 from the Faculty of Electronics, Warsaw University of Technology, with a degree in Medical and Nuclear Electronics, specialization: Electronic Instrumentation. He obtained his PhD in Technical Sciences on April 29, 2003, at the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics, Gdańsk University of Technology. The title of his doctoral dissertation was “A Method for Assessing the Effectiveness of Cochlear Implant Systems.” He received his habilitation degree (DSc) in Health Sciences on April 23, 2013, from the Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Warsaw. The scientific achievement was entitled “Electro-Acoustic Stimulation of the Auditory Receptor after Cochlear Implantation.”. He has led or participated in numerous EU- and nationally funded projects, including HearingTreat (PI, EU Marie Curie ToK), HEARD (main researcher, FP7 IEF), and InnoTech (researcher, NCBiR), focusing on innovative cochlear implant fitting, auditory diagnostics, and implantable hearing devices. Prof. Lorens has authored 100+ publications, (H-index: 26, 2,023 citations)